Ready for Prime Time-A Bruno Story

Posted on August 24, 2013 by Exechorseluver

Lauren is all smiles as she rides Bruno at Dev’s today.

No story about OTTB Bruno can start without a little history. Almost a year ago, our trainer Dev had a lame horse with soundness issues that he thought we could re-hab and make into a great jumper. We took Bruno home. He had surgery over eight months ago to cure an infection in his hoof. We got way more than we bargained for in terms of care, cost and endless days of stall rest. But we learned an infinite amount about patience, love and hope as well.

Today we were finally ready to take the over 17.2 hand, almost 1600 pound thoroughbred back to Dev for his very first lesson as a sound horse. We were all a little nervous as we pulled out before dawn trying to beat some late summer Texas heat. Bruno was already covered in sweat as he stepped from the trailer. Dev’s mom, a rider, judge and horsewoman, looked at Bruno and asked, had he grown? I don’t think he is any taller but he has lost that coltish look and replaced it with a mature, muscled physique.

For Bruno to succeed at being a show horse, a jumper, he has to do more than be sound and look good. Today we were going to find out what our trainer thought of Bru, how he did with new places and hopefully how he jumped. Lauren has had problems with the left lead canter. Race horses run to the left. The left front hoof is the bad one. I suspect Bruno remembers running on that foot and pain. It is going to take some time for Bruno to understand his hoof does not hurt anymore. Dev climbed up in the saddle to see if he could make some progress where Lauren could not.

Dev gets the canter.

Dev had nothing but praise for the big horse. He liked how soft he was, he liked how his strides just ate up the lines to the jumps and I think he was pleased to see the promise in Lauren and gentle horse. It wasn’t all roses as Bruno shied away from the dogs (if they had been poodles he would have been fine) and went sideways instead of forward a couple of times but overall he was great.

When it came time for the first jump, we all held our breath but Bruno sailed over like a pro. He doesn’t have all the style of Feather but makes up for it on course by being soft and adjustable. It was a wonderful day, and one I wasn’t sure would ever come to pass even a month ago.

A couple old friends showed up to ride, Katy and Hennah with their moms, Vernie and Nargis. It made me grateful for this trainer, these friends and this special horse who has taught Lauren and I so much.

After the trailer ride home, Bruno was spotted out with Mickey and Feather at the fence line. I bet Bruno was telling them how he had jumped the zebra line of jumps like a pro. Both Mickey and Feather have jumped that same line higher and faster as they no doubt let him know. But I think Bruno knew something pretty special had happened today. Hopefully, one day his jumps will surpass theirs. Today was a pretty good start!

Bruno and Pixie Get Adjusted-A Bruno Story

Posted on August 16, 2013 by Exechorseluver

Bruno’s areas of adjustment.

After all the high-tech, high dollar surgical intervention that has been done to get this OTTB back from an infection of the coffin bone, it is interesting that in addition to a change in shoeing, having my vet/chiropractor adjust Bruno has made more difference in his ride and movement than anything else. It is a little startling.

Eight months ago this Sunday, Bruno, a six year-old OTTB had surgery at Texas A&M Vet Hospital. At least a third of his hoof was removed including a portion of his diseased coffin bone. Then months of stall rest went by. Finally he was released to start back to work. But honestly, he wasn’t moving well. I expected him to be a little off with his hoof as the hoof walls continued to get stronger. But he was also moving stiffly in his hind end. It was a little disparaging to think you had won the battle with his foot but lost the war with him being sound throughout. We added injections to support his overall joint health.

This week we had our vet, Lynn Criner, DVM, who is also certified as an animal chiropractor come out to look at Bruno (who of course she has seen many times, but never adjusted) and also our young mare Pixie.

The picture above illustrates all the areas that Bruno had issues. Lauren said one of the most amazing adjustments, in terms of change, was in the space above his eye and below his ear. I had noticed one side seemed swollen-or had fluid. Also, it was difficult to bridle Bruno and not just because he is 17.2 hh. He did not like his head touched. Dr. Criner took his head in her hands, manipulated it and my head throwing, swollen faced horse was a thing of the past. He dropped his head down and sighed. Last night, for the very first time, he bridled easily and without issue.

His hind end was out at the hip and spine. He was also out in the shoulder. All were returned to the normal position and again, the big horse sighed in relief. It might take a couple of times for this all to hold together, as muscle memory is long and Bruno has been in bad shape for a while but we will repeat as we need to do so.

Last night when Lauren went out to ride, it was a different Bruno she rode. We have had problems trotting Bruno at all. He did not want to trot and we moved him into a canter early in each ride to keep him more comfortable. Last night, he trotted as well as he ever has, most notably was his nice, even pace and lack of a head tossing, tail swishing fight. He reminded me so much of my old horse Mac who is a hunter pro. Around he went, balanced and happy.

When Lauren went on to the canter it was again the canter of hunter, as even and methodical as could be. I even went so far as to say it looked like a hunter under saddle Quarter horse class. His head was down (okay not down that far!), his hind end moved fluidly, and his cadence was perfect. It was a far cry from the usual off in gallop, dragging his hind end, missing his leads, horse of the past. I just hope this Bruno shows up again!!

Pixie, the four year-old pony, has not liked us to tighten up her girth. She has been less than enthusiastic about me putting my leg on her and pushing her forward. In fact, she has been relcutant to really work at all. Well, that certainly began to make sense as Dr. Criner evaluated her.

Pixie’s areas of pain.

Pixie had ribs out of alignment on both sides, two on one side and one on the other. Can you imagine having someone draw a tight band around your ribs if they were out of place? Would not be a good time. I would not be very cooperative either. Her hips and top of her head (her poll) needed alignment and her little knees were sore (probably from bracing against the pain of everything above them). I had been lunging her more (to make her cooperate better under saddle) and that is the worst thing I could have done for her knees. The vet prescribed straight work for her, no twisting or turning as she starts to heal.

Dr. Criner had suggested “ponying” Bruno down the hay roads so he could also work on the straight instead of having to turn over and over in the arena. Ponying is when one horse is being ridden and the second horse is brought along in a halter (seemingly under the control of the ponying horse). At the time, I told I did not have a horse to pony him with. Mickey is an all-star kicker. Feather would just panic and run away with him. Mr. Kid would want to run away with Bruno but might have a heart attack trying.

When she suggested ponying Pixie, I started to give the same excuse-no pony horse available. Then it occured to me! Snowboy was coming home and if he hasn’t changed he will be an awesome horse to take Pixie down the hay road.

Now, Snow ponying Bruno, first, what a sight that would be! Second, I wonder if Bruno could start running really fast and just pull me and Snow into air, like we were para-sailing behind him. Oh, I wish I could draw because I totally have a visual in my mind of the big, black horse dragging the fat, white pony and the old lady into the air!

Horse show this weekend and hoping to be moving Feather up yet another division in height.

Thanks for riding along!

Bruno Advice-A Bruno Story

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Exechorseluver

From the artist Amber Brooks comes a symbol of the loves of my life-animal anyway-with the Poodle and the thoroughbred.

I just received the above watercolor drawing today. I LOVE it. It seems to sum up what is near and dear to my heart. What a talent this Georgia lady is. She owns poodles and horse like I.

From a conversation on my office about how siblings have the same genetics yet turn out so uniquely, so can be true in the thoroughbred world. Thoroughbreds are (usually) thoughtfully bred to produce the best assets a breeder can give them through choice of sire, dam and the rest of the relatives as well. I have blogged before about Bruno (registered name-Fiddler’s Pilgrim) being well-bred with AP Indy, Seattle Slew, Secretariat and others. I just had never spent too much time looking at his dam’s side of the family.

Today I glanced at the pedigree once again. I realized while his grand-sire on one side was AP Indy (pictures in blog further back) I had not noticed that his maternal grand-sire was Hansel. Hansel was a top horse as well-most would say greater than AP. Winning two legs of the Triple Crown (the Preakness and Belmont) and many other big stake races.

Bruno’s great grandsire, Hansel.

It was a little difficult to come to grips with such a prestigous horse with so many famous relatives, rolling in the mud at my little place in Wharton. Talk about a long way from New York. The fun of the OTTBs is their great heritage and lineage.

I texted my friend and sometimes farrier, Sean, who grew up in the thoroughbred world, his grandmother one of the first female managers of a large track in the US. He has also spent time as a jockey. He rode AP Indy. I texted him about Hansel. He replied that having Hansel and AP Indy as your grandfathers is pretty much Thoroughbred royalty. I gave him a little update about how Bruno was doing, that we were starting training and even had done a few jumps

I love dry humor. I received Sean’s text back. He told me Bruno was bred to run, that he was a great horse. I certainly agreed with him. He had ridden the great AP Indy and gave Lauren some tips previously. Then he made me laugh out loud with his final comment. ” I would suggest one thing when you get that horse back in shape and ready for the jumper ring, GO SLOW!! That is one horse that was born for speed and Lauren better never let Bruno take off with her. GO SLOW!”

Absolutely made my day. It is kind of like in the Disney movie, Secretariat, when jockey Ronnie has clearly won the Belmont race and his trainer yells, “Ronnie, don’t fall off”.

I can just see me in the stands watching Bruno and Lauren attack a big jumper course and me yelling., ‘Remember, go slow!”

The Barrel Jump-a Bruno Story

Posted on August 11, 2013 by Exechorseluver

Mickey jumping the infamous barrel jump. Set here at 3’6″.

We got these metal jump cups that attach to the side of barrels. A lot of our friends, actually a lot of my friends all my life have been barrel racers. I have owned and run a top barrel horse in my youth. My arena will always have some barrels in it. When I found these jump cups that make my barrels into jump standards, I had to have them.

A barrel is about three foot high. With the jump set on the top cup, with a regular pole, it is a solid 3’6″. With Mickey, we made it an oxer as well. Mickey was sailing over the jump, but he was an experienced jumper. Feather has not jumped the barrel jump before last night and not on the top setting.

We took Bruno out to work and I was armed with my camera not wanting to miss a shot of Bruno finally jumping a fence. We started the barrel jump as an X. It was about two and half feet tall. Honestly, he could walk over it. I saw him trot towards it, move into a canter, easily jump and come back to Lauren (as opposed to running off strong). For OTTB Bruno, with his racer’s soul, it was something good to learn. That he has stayed sound as our work-outs have increased in intensity and now over the jumps is great as well.

Lauren has never jumped Bruno over anything other than an X. I wanted to take the jump up to a vertical, which is really a horizontal pole across the width of the jump (don’t know why it is called a vertical but it is). Lauren said no. I set it up anyway. I will be first to admit his jump is not perfect, no nice even knees, he will hopefully continue to learn. The main point of the picture below and while I squealed with glee when I first saw it, is how Bruno makes this jump look like a toy. Ask any barrel racer, they will tell you they don’t mind racing around a barrel, but they sure would never consider jumping over one.

While this jump is not the full height or width of one Mickey is jumping above, it still was the first balloon we have floated out there to see if Bruno might have the makings of a jumper. Lauren has never competed in a division with fences over 3’6″. In this picture, Bruno’ s giant OTTB body, absolutely dwarfs the barrels. His back feet are still on the ground. His upper body is easily a foot over the top of the barrels. It was quite an ‘ah hah!’ moment for us. I quickly texted one of my friends to tell her the news. She told me she was excited to see where this Bruno story was going.

Each of these small steps, takes closer and closer to having a show horse. We are going to take it slow but it is sure a lot more fun watching him jump than watching him stand in his stall!

Pixie had a good solid ride. She seems to be maturing before our eyes. We got finished up with those two and Lauren saddled up Feather for workout. We don’t jump Feather much at home, preferring to save her legs for lessons and shows. But the barrel jump was calling to her. Again, not set up as high as Mickey jumped, Feather was her usual over-achiever self.

Feather did a pretty good job of making those barrels look small as well. Maybe, we got a couple of sterling youngsters (three if you count Pixie) gaining ground and showing promise at our farm today.

Thanks for riding along!

Another Hot Summer Day

Posted on August 10, 2013 by Exechorseluver

Getting Snow’s stall all set for his return! If you look carefully you can see the poodle’s reflection.

As the hot summer days continue (no rain since Fourth of Ju-LIE-as my momma would say), the heat index has tipped over 100 each and every day, Lauren has been readying the barn for the Snow’s return. In some sort of manic phase of activity, Lauren has stripped the hay stall, cleaning out cob webs, moving hay, moving pallets from stall to stall, leveling the floor, adding dirt, adding rubber mats, and (are you ready for this?) changing out the gates herself.

I was actually, shocked! More of her father’s genetic code must run through her system than what I thought. I did not even know that she could possibly take down on six-foot gate and replace it with a four-foot stall gate. We keep the hay locked behind higher walls and higher gates. So, Lauren had to remove the boards from the stall that will be Snow’s and then cut (with a saw) the boards to fit the new hay stall. I was just amazed.

I think Jordyn is going to be thrilled when we surprise her with Snow’s return to Six Meadow Farm. The stall is not done yet, we have a fan to install, plywood to set in the back of the stall and of course, shavings.

Dev suggested that next weekend when we have a horse show that Snow is attending, that we just take him home then. That will save an extra long trip to Dev’s to pick him up. We had planned to bring Jordyn down for a lesson on Labor day weekend and just, SURPRISE! Snow was home. Ally and her kids are headed to Denver to help Amber and kids celebrate their birthdays so Jordyn won’t even be in town when Snow gets here. Hopefully by the 21st or so, we can get the big surprise done.

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Meanwhile, I am continuing to work Pixie in hopes of turning her into an all-star hunter pony. She has been a little reluctant to work hard with heat. She has been getting extra time on the lunge line. I decided to try her over a small jump. She is young and never been jumped with a person on her back. She jumped the first time I asked and each time thereafter. We are going to get Dr. Criner out to check her alignment, back, and sternum. She does not like her back feet worked with and is still mareish when I tighten the girth.

Not perfect, but her first jump in Texas. She was totally willing to do whatever I asked.

DC will look at Bruno as well. We have scheduled Bruno’s first lesson at Dev’s. Lauren was telling farrier Roland last night as he marveled that Bruno still had his cast and shoe on, that she had ridden him eight times in the last ten days-and that was more rides than we had ever had since we have owned him. He seems to be getting physically stronger and easier to handle each time they ride.

Roland was watching him last night as he finished up with the horses, “He really is a great looking horse, I hope he does great things”. Ditto, Roland, Ditto.

Thank you for riding along. Going out right now (temp just dipped to a cool 99 degrees) to ride Pixie, Feather and Bruno. Good night to all of you!

JUMP-A Bruno Story

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Exechorseluver

X makes the spot!

Two hundred and thirty-three days since OTTB Bruno underwent surgery to clear a long-time infection to his coffin bone, Lauren simply headed towards this X and Bruno jumped.

Regular readers will know all the trials and issues we have endured trying to get Bruno back to sound. Five months in his stall, totally. Months confined to a small area. Boring days and critical accidents that we did not think Bruno would survive. But he has and since his shoeing (with a cast, straight bar shoe and equi-thane filler) a week ago last Saturday each day he has been moving a little better and with a less of a limp. We will need to do exercises to strengthen his hind end so he does not fall so hard on his forehand. Any dressage trainer anywhere near Wharton? But we can do that. It will take some time.

Lauren usually works Feather in the morning. Then Bruno and Pixie are worked in the early evening. I have not been ready for her to ride Bruno when I am 100 miles away. But each day that he has been worked his attitude and mental state are better.

Last night, Lauren wanted to ride Feather so she would have me there as she worked Feather through the jump grids assigned by Dev as homework. I had Pixie saddled. I wondered then what would happen when Bruno got to the ring and saw the jumps. Like a lot OTTB owners we don’t know a lot about his life before us. We can chronicle and even watch some race footage. But there are big gaps for us. Questions like why did such a big, well-bred colt start racing so late (at age 4)? Did he have hoof issues all along?

We know he came here to Texas to Sherre Sims, an excellent hunter-jumper rider and trainer. But we do not have details about what work she did with him. Has he ever been jumped through a course, if so how high?

Lauren texted me early this morning that she was getting on Bruno. Just like I had with Pixie a few days ago, we set a time limit and if we have not heard from the rider within say an hour, it is time to dispatch the ambulance. We are out in an area without close neighbors (or at least neighbors would might even notice if we fell off) and we ride alone, a lot.

I kept track of the time and saw Lauren’s call come in on my cell. I was scared-was she okay? She told me I would be mad at her-heart pounds faster. “Why what did you do?” “I jumped Bruno”. The rule is no jumping when you are riding alone. Still, instead of from fear my heart started to pound with excitement. “How did he do?” I wanted to know.

She said they were just going through the paces, the X came up on the outside line. Lauren made a decision to jump. Bruno continued his even pace, rounded his back, jumped, landed athletically and continued to canter. So, he cantered. He spotted the X. He jumped the X.

And he walked off sound! I will get some photos soon. Tonight all I have is photo of what the jump must have looked like to Bruno as he cantered up to it.

Praise God!! It has been a long time coming. A new big chapter in the Bruno, My OTTB story has just started. Please keep riding along!

Pedicure and a bath

Posted on July 28, 2013 by Exechorseluver

Pixie, all shiney and clean after her bath.

I had everything ready for the farrier last night; a bucket of water for him to use to form the cast, the mats swept clean, hosed down and dried, Bruno’s bell boot off, his hoof clean and Bruno, himself, worn out from a day in the hot sun. I was working so hard I never noticed my phone. There was a message that tomorrow morning would be better. Oh, well! When your farrier is making an over one hundred mile round trip for the third time in less than three weeks, you go with grateful, no matter when he shows up.

Bright and early this morning, with Lauren and Feather already seriously at work in the arena, Roland pulled in. He had been here with the vet just two weeks ago. They had hatched a plan to use a heartbar shoe with a pad between the hoof and shoe but then…there’s more, they used cast material (like on a broken arm) to wrap around Bruno’s hoof. The idea was to drive the hoofing nails into the cast instead of the fragile hoof wall. Dr. Criner gave it three weeks. Much to my horror, it lasted only ten days. But while it was on Bruno was 99% sound for the first time in 277 days (to be exact-that’s when he had surgery)! It was pretty amazing to see him go so well.

New plan today!! Shoe him with a straight bar shoe, add the equi-Pak (it reminds me of silicone putty you use to caulk a bathroom) to create some padding and then cast the hoof. We hoped it would last a little longer. Since Bruno needed his other feet done, Roland trimmed them all. Making it another first, as this was the first time since we have owned him he is being set with working feet! It is get over the surgery and move on, big guy, time. The long toes so many of you have commented about are gone.

He has a great pedicure, new shoes and I pray we have a Horse who is completely ready, willing and able to return to work! Do you have any idea my excitement when we actually jump this horse, this horse upon so many dreams we have built-all without EVER seeing him jump even once. I know I may be in for a big let down…but I so think he can do it!

After Bruno’s pedicure, I dragged lil Pixie out of the pasture for a bath. We have not paid enough attention to this one since she arrived from Florida. I washed and conditioned her long, beautiful tail. I scrubbed her body and legs. I was rewarded with pretty, silky pony!

Now, I am headed in to clean up from my day of pedicures and baths. Thanks for riding along! I see some trot poles and small Xes for these two soon. It’s going to be fun!!

His newly casted hoof, next to his untrimmed, too long toe on the other foot

Whirlwind days-a Bruno, Joey and a bunch of other stories

Posted on July 27, 2013 by Exechorseluver

It is budget time at my job, number crunching angst that we endure once a year. I have had my Excel program crash, lost all my files and started over again. Then I got a call from Lauren that Bruno had lost his casted, padded, newly minted shoe and he was lame again. The vet had said it would only go about four weeks but this was only ten days. All I kept thinking was I can’t afford to go through this whole process every ten days.

I also knew my Houston based farrier would not want to make yet another trip across country to see Bruno. I didn’t know what to do.

Meanwhile, over at Caroline’s, Joey was getting new expensive shoes with pads and heartbars, not unlike Bruno, but Joey needed four. All of Joey’s soles had been cut too short and he was unbearably lame all around. Two days after the new shoes, I got the report he had trotted and even tried a little canter. Joey was feeling much better.

By Friday, I had gotten Roland scheduled to come re-cast the hoof. Bruno was actually getting around okay (or better than I would have expected) on his bare foot. He had been almost 99% sound earlier in the week, for the first time in a long time, but was only slightly off without the shoe. It seemed to speak of hope that one day this would be better.

Friday, I had decided it was time for four year-old pony, Pixie, to have her first outing. Thursday night, the recently broke pony was giving me a hard time. But after some work with me, Lauren got a pretty good canter from her for the first time without trying to buck and dodge instead of canter. We were to take Feather for a lesson with Dev at a nice facility in Richmond. I took the day off, Lauren cleaned up my English saddle. I dusted off my boots, found some breeches and was set.

We realized we had never even tried to load the pony before. We got a successful practice run Thursday night. Friday, we were off early with both my Florida horses loading competently. Pixie was pretty amazing. Very green, been no where, barely broke, we walked around the covered arena filled with jumps, horses going every which way, giant dressage mirrors reflecting in the corners, and the pony just walked on. She is well-bred from quiet German lines, RSPI, and it showed.

Dev said if her canter (we did not try the canter) matches her trot she should pin well in the pony hunters. If you are looking for an all-star show pony, keep your eye on this one. That’s if we let her go!

Feather had a good lesson, jumping the 3’6″ courses at an easy five feet. No hesitation, no worries today, but Lauren had come armed with spurs and crop, George Morris would have been proud!
It is fun for us to have these lessons and an opportunity to catch with our ‘keep their horses at home group’, the Kresta’s, the Chambers, Caroline and Arianna. We added Shelby and her massive jumper to the group as well!

I rushed home to finish off some work files and get my mom to the retina specialist. Macular degeneration is quickly now claiming my mother’s sight. There is not really anything to do.

It was hay day. Time for gathering the bales from the field once again. We did not ask Ally this time as she is still healing the broken arm from the last time. Our riding buddies showed up and we made fast work of gathering 60 bales. We went off to the Mexican restaurant and then called that a good day!

Another Saturday-a Bruno Story

Posted on July 21, 2013 by Exechorseluver

Last Saturday, we spent the whole day waiting, working, trying and praying to find some new way to get Bruno moving soundly. We x- rayed, created impressions of his footfall, crafted casts and forged a new shoe.

It has been raining off and on since then. Maybe God’s little way of making Bruno have to stay in close quarters and let his hoof adjust to all the work we did on it. It was frustrating, but perhaps just what he needed.

Yesterday, we took off early to head to Houston to the dog show. My little VW was packed with two car seats with Kendyll and Jordyn, and Kona sitting (or standing) in the middle. We always enjoy going to the show,seeing all the dogs and I was excited this year to bring Kona to try out some basic agility they had set up. I got to visit with a lot of dog lovers and the girls had a good time.

We dropped Kendyll and Jo at their other grandparents. It was mid-afternoon by the time we were back.

We decided to let Kid and Bruno out in the nearly dry front pasture. Normally, they do not go out here as the fence isn’t as good, it has weeds, and some rocks, but Bruno needed to get out. We followed Dr. Criner’s advice and gave Bruno a shot of Ace. The idea was to slow him down a bit so he would not pound so hard on his hoof. We gave the shot and waited for it to take effect. It was also a humid, 95 degrees with full afternoon sun. I thought that might take a toll on him as well.

But, no! Bruno came blazing out of the gate like the elite thoroughbred he is. Showing astounding ability to turn, cut and slide to a stop (all of which we could have done without) it brought huge smiles to our faces to see him be able to move so well. I know there are many days ahead, and lots of ups and downs but today was a good day. And I will joyfully remember where we are today versus a week ago. Sounds like it is another big thank you to Dr. Criner and Roland for work well done.

Even months of stall rest, cannot keep this boy from having natural muscles in his butt.

Now, forgive me for my weedy pasture, the rain has kept us from mowing, but watch my boy trot and gallop. It is not perfect, but we are making strides toward getting better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljq2CWNUs6g

Remind me of this day, when we take two steps back again as I know we will, but maybe, one day, Lauren will harness this horse’s natural athletic ability into something in the show ring. I can’t wait!

Also, I have gone back and re-categorized all the Bruno Stories-under the clever name, A Bruno Story, so if you ever want to go visit his history in order you can click on the front page of the blog and read his stories in order. What a time we have had!!

As always, thank you for riding along! I love hearing from you all with your support, great suggestions, and just to know you care!

What now?-A Bruno Story

Posted on July 13, 2013 by Exechorseluver

I wrote Monday about Bruno’s lameness. Today is Saturday, here is a short update of what happened this week:
* we started Bruno on bute (an anti-inflammatory drug)
* Tuesday, he was walking better but was still lame
* Wednesday Bruno was lying down, unable or unwilling to get up, so lame he could barely walk
* We started treating Bruno for a hoof abscess, soaking his bad hoof in Epsom salts to try to draw out the infection.

Bruno, no doubt a veteran of the hoof soak process, stood quietly.

* Thursday our local vet team got here to gently coax Bruno’s shoe off the infected foot. They did not want to damage any of the newly grown hoof. Bruno got a big injection of more anti-inflammatories.
* Friday after much discussion with both our vet Dr. Criner and our farrier, Roland, we determined we would shoot x-rays this morning.

Today started with radiographs of Bruno’s front hooves. He behaved well for the front feet but was not interested in having his back feet photographed. We will do that another day.

Setting up for the x-rays.

Later this afternoon, both the doctor and farrier returned. After reviewing the images, the doc wanted to see how Bruno was moving and how it affected his hoof. Dr. Criner needed him to move on the flat, unforgiving surface of concrete. She suggested using the highway (eh, no way!) and then the neighbor’s driveway. I got permission and the test was on. Dr. Criner ( because she is tougher than any of us) placed a chain in the ex-racehorse’s mouth, covered his hoof in duct tape and headed down the drive. The duct tape clearly showed that Bruno was striding in such a way that most of the impact was hitting on the damaged coffin bone, and the weak, outside of the hoof.

The next task was to find a way to support this hoof as time allowed it to get better. All of this was new to me. Based upon the x-rays, the hoof was trimmed. A new heart bar shoe was custom designed by Roland (Lauren thought we were cooking hot dogs, but we were making shoes). Then, casting material was used around the hoof to support the fragile hoof wall and allow the nails to have a place to rest other than the hoof.

Roland sculpting the cast material.

Next, was a custom fit pad to absorb the shock of the hoof as Bruno bounded down the arena walls. Finally, after re-shaping and molding, Bruno’s custom shoe was done.

The new heart bar shoe, with pad and cast.

The casted, padded new shoe-ready to go.

And finally, the jog for soundness. Off Lauren went, dwarfed by Bruno, moving beautifully, with just a hint of his old injury.

We still have several months of re-hab left. But the vet that diagnosed Bruno’s injury right in the first place, got him on the road to recovery with TAMU vets, appears to have made some good decisions for our giant OTTB Bruno. I am grateful for our new path forward, and grateful to Lynn and Roland for giving up their Saturday to get this horse pain free again.

Exechorseluver

The life and times of modern day horse woman

Category Archives: A Bruno Story